Shoalhaven The Third Progression

By Ross Lamond

The Shoalhaven district of New South Wales is today (2014) two hours travelling time from Sydney and getting shorter. Back in 1822 the only access to the district was by sailing ship. Sailing ships brought settlement to the rich soils beside the Shoalhaven River and settlement carried out by the axe and horse and cart. A period of connection to the land and the earth underneath. The Shoalhaven River becoming the lifeblood of the district through transportation of locally produced produce to feed and house the growing settlement of Sydney. Shoalhaven became known as ‘The Garden of Sydney’.
It was also a period of land use reflected as The River Period. A time of romance and adventure, challenges and hardships as settlers came to grips with the land. Self-dependency and sustainability expressed through the technologies of that time.
Then in 1893, rail was connected from Sydney to Bomaderry; a village located on the northern bank of the Shoalhaven River and linked to Nowra via a recently constructed steel girder bridge. Shoalhaven residents no longer having to rely on sail or steam ships, but could travel daily to Sydney by rail. With rail came roads and the telegraph. Electricity and town gas followed. A period when villages expanded into towns such as Nowra, and employment growth through professional and administrative services and retail trading. Self-dependency to the land being gradually displaced. The district also became more dependent on Sydney for jobs, goods and services and public administration.
A period of disconnection and a second progression where Shoalhaven’s umbilical cord to Sydney was reversed in support and tethering. The sense of adventure and romanticism with the land itself gradually displaced by technologies of the day and growth in manufacturing. Towns displacing villages and Sydneysiders’ discovering the Shoalhaven as a holiday destination.
In the 1980’s another change in land use became apparent. Sydneysiders and residents of Wollongong were beginning to use the Shoalhaven as a retirement destination and place for daily and inter daily visitation. They were forging a dependency on the Shoalhaven, and in a sense a reconnection to its landscapes. Ironically, Shoalhaven’s landscapes attracted their first settlers to utilise what the landscape could offer for financial security, while the landscapes of the 1980’s brought residents seeking their untouched beauty and tranquility!
A third Progression was in play and that of recreation and retirement. Manufacturing on the wane, the growth of services expanding, and the Shoalhaven becoming a depository for those unable to afford accommodation in Sydney.
Ross sees another Progression on offer in the Shoalhaven. Dependency on Government. A progression of disconnection to the land where Shoalhaven residents rely on Government benefits, subsidies and services.
The Shoalhaven today still a place of beauty, peacefulness and tranquility and less than two hours by motor car from Sydney. Its future charted through a forged, determined, independent, and proud past of people close to the land itself, but now becoming dependent on decisions by those in present day public service.
Ross Lamond was a resident of the Shoalhaven. He grew up there and his forbearers’ settled there. Ross became attached to Shoalhaven’s soils as a farmer. Ross’s passion in caring for the land is reflected in this publication.
Shoalhaven the Third Progression is an appendix to Connections to the Earth and can be read in conjunction.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ross Lamond
• Release date: Apr 21, 2014
• ISBN: 9780987477040

Ross Lamond

Ross Lamond is the youngest member of a well-known and respected dairy farming family of the New South Wales South Coast, Australia. He schooled away from home, completing secondary studies at Sydney Grammar School, Sydney. Upon leaving school, Ross returned to the family farm and over a forty year period, gained extensive experience in dairying, beef cattle production, sugarcane, small crop cultivation and horticulture. An ever present interest in the garden naturalised into that of a nurseryman, landscape gardener and grower of in ground trees for landscape. Concern about environmental issues such as tree decline, dry land salinity and habitat degradation led Ross into external studies in Environment at Mitchell College of Advanced Education at Bathurst, followed by post graduate studies in Urban and Regional planning at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane. A chance reading of a Feng Shui publication in 1998, introduced Ross to Feng Shui and its influence on our lives and surroundings. He applied some of its principles into the garden and developed his own interpretation of Feng Shui garnished through personal experience and observation. The interest has led Ross into a journey of self-discovery including that of nature, environmentalism and spirituality. It’s an ever growing interest. Ross lives by himself, has four grown up children, and likes to travel and garden and write about his experiences and observations.

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Shoalhaven The Third Progression

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Copyright © 2014 by Ross Lamond

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ISBN: 978-0-9874770-4-0

About the Author

Ross Lamond is the youngest member of a well-known and respected dairy farming family of the New South Wales South Coast in Australia.

He schooled away from home, completing secondary school at Sydney Grammar School in Sydney. Upon leaving school, Ross returned to the family farm and over a forty year period gained extensive experience in dairying, beef cattle production, sugar cane, small crop cultivation and horticulture. An ever present interest in gardening materialised into that of nurseryman, landscape gardener and grower of in ground trees for landscape.

Concern about environmental issues such as tree decline, dry land salinity and habitat degradation led Ross into external studies in Environment at Charles Sturt University at Bathurst followed by a Post Graduate in Urban and Regional Planning through the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane. He practiced his findings extensively.

A chance reading of a Feng Shui publication in 1998, introduced Ross to Feng Shui and its influence on our lives and surroundings. He applied some of its principles into the garden and developed his own interpretation of Feng Shui enhanced through personal experience and observation. The interest led Ross into a journey of self-discovery including environmentalism, nature and spirituality. It remains an ever growing interest.

Ross lives by himself, has four grown up children and likes to travel, garden and write about his experiences.

Contents

Preface

The First Progression - Connection

Aboriginal pre-history

European Settlement and Change in Lifestyle for Shoalhaven’s Indigenous Aboriginals

Early Exploration

Alexander Berry

The Resourcefulness and Determination of Early Settlers

Dominance of the River until 1893

The Second Progression - Disconnection

Influences of Transportation, Communication and Technology

Influence of Rail after 1893

Prospects of Accelerated Growth

Comparisons - Past and Present

The Third Progression - Reconnection

The Character of Shoalhaven, 2011

City of Shoalhaven - Local Government

Shoalhaven - A Place for Aging

Tourism in Shoalhaven

Social and Economic Influences

Shoalhaven City Council - Private Dwellings, 1996-2006

Health and Services

Manufacturing

Local Administration

The Present Day - Shoalhaven 2011

Discussion

A Personal Finding

Shoalhaven - Reconnection and the Future

Preface

In 1987 I had the opportunity to coordinate a land use study of the Shoalhaven district which is located on the South Coast of New South Wales. To propagate the idea I formed a committee of representatives from State Government Departments and Shoalhaven City Council. The committee gained support through a Commonwealth Government employment scheme to employ three members of the local community to gather and collate information and present the findings as a static poster display for use by schoolchildren.

The land use committee acknowledged the Shoalhaven district history was well-documented and we had ready access to historical material reflecting changes in land use from first European contact in 1797 until 1986. The display hopefully would introduce a romantic and adventurist history of early settlement and reflect change through transportation, technology and communication. The study was completed and we published a booklet, ‘Shoalhaven Period of Change 1797-1986’.

At the time I was becoming aware of some changes in land use occurring in the district. By the mid 1980’s the districts 3 major employers, Shoalhaven Paper, John Bull Rubber and the Naval Air Station at HMAS Albatross were restructuring and in employment decline. Shoalhaven Paper and John Bull Rubber were competing with imported products and having to adjust. HMAS Albatross about that time closed down its fixed wing component of the Fleet Air Arm. Cost pressures and changes in technology within the dairying and timber industries saw smaller saw